07-12-2018, 09:26 AM
He clapped Jay on the back with the familiarity of an old and beloved mentor. The first words to leave his lips were pointed; she heard the message, of course. That Jay agreed to his training. That he wanted it. That is was a gift. It changed nothing of how that 'gift' had been bestowed, but she doubted he had spoken for her benefit; he already knew how deeply their views conflicted; that the stubborn steel of her spine would not bend to accept he had acted out of compassion no matter how he framed it.
No, he spoke to soothe the woman seated like a queen; the one at whom he stared too long and too deeply to speak of simple business relations between nations. When he turned away, it was as a man forced from the warm face of summer to confront the cold and brutal winter.
Natalie's expression returned to its habitual stillness as his attention focused briefly on her, once more the magnanimous and patient father. If she was surprised by the offer -- or that such a thing as healing even existed -- she did not show it. She'd been unconscious when Jared had knit the worst of her wounds back together in Africa, but she'd seen him lay his hands on another -- and the toll it took. Now, as then, she did not consider the triviality of her injuries worth the offer of a miracle. "That's too kind. But I wouldn't wish to waste such a gift. Sometimes our mistakes ought to leave reminders. None of us are invulnerable, after all."
As to her recuperation, she chose not to answer. This wasn't the time for blunt honesty, nor the mixed company she would be inclined to share anything of her self with. She did not suppose he really cared; it was only a nod to their previous conversation, and an avenue through which to manipulate the conversation away from the threat he might have perceived from his clandestine meeting, to something Evelyn would find palatable.
Though he couldn't know it, it paved a comfortable path forward.
Evelyn seized upon it, and Natalie was content to let her speak. She phrased the request in such a way she had clearly picked up upon Jay's unease at sharing the details. That arbitrary layer of protection was something of a comfort. She glanced at him, assuming to find him rapt upon the discussion deciding how easily he might go to his family's aid.
No, he spoke to soothe the woman seated like a queen; the one at whom he stared too long and too deeply to speak of simple business relations between nations. When he turned away, it was as a man forced from the warm face of summer to confront the cold and brutal winter.
Natalie's expression returned to its habitual stillness as his attention focused briefly on her, once more the magnanimous and patient father. If she was surprised by the offer -- or that such a thing as healing even existed -- she did not show it. She'd been unconscious when Jared had knit the worst of her wounds back together in Africa, but she'd seen him lay his hands on another -- and the toll it took. Now, as then, she did not consider the triviality of her injuries worth the offer of a miracle. "That's too kind. But I wouldn't wish to waste such a gift. Sometimes our mistakes ought to leave reminders. None of us are invulnerable, after all."
As to her recuperation, she chose not to answer. This wasn't the time for blunt honesty, nor the mixed company she would be inclined to share anything of her self with. She did not suppose he really cared; it was only a nod to their previous conversation, and an avenue through which to manipulate the conversation away from the threat he might have perceived from his clandestine meeting, to something Evelyn would find palatable.
Though he couldn't know it, it paved a comfortable path forward.
Evelyn seized upon it, and Natalie was content to let her speak. She phrased the request in such a way she had clearly picked up upon Jay's unease at sharing the details. That arbitrary layer of protection was something of a comfort. She glanced at him, assuming to find him rapt upon the discussion deciding how easily he might go to his family's aid.